AC electrical conductivity of poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon black composite

The study deals with the ac electrical conduction of poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon black composite of different carbon black (CB) filler concentrations (2, 6, 12 wt%). The ac electrical conductivity was studied as a function of filler concentration, frequency in the range from 100 kHz to 2 MHz, and temperature in the range from 300 to 450 K. It was found that ac electrical conductivity increases by increasing both temperature and CB concentration. The observed overall mechanism of electrical conduction has been related to the transfer of electrons through the CB aggregations distributed in the polymer matrix. The observed increase in conductivity with CB concentration was interpreted through the percolation theory.